The United States are planning to work with ‘like-minded’ countries to implement more security in 5G networks. President Donald Trump has made this public in a letter. In recent months, the US has taken many actions to guarantee the security of its own networks.
Trump says in his letter that the US “wants to implement 5G services quickly”, says Reuters. However, the country is against entities that “want to use 5G as a tool to increase control over their own citizens and divide nations”.
No Huawei equipment
Trump seems to be referring to the Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, who have been at odds with the US for some time now. The US thinks that companies’ telecom equipment is being misused by the Chinese government for espionage. However, the manufacturers have always denied this.
Nevertheless, the US have excluded the two companies in various ways. For example, Huawei is on a blacklist, so American companies are not allowed to trade with the Chinese manufacturer. In addition, Huawei equipment may not be used by the government.
Trump has also issued the decree that American companies are not allowed to use telecom equipment made by companies that pose a risk to national security. The Ministry of Commerce has to make a law for this, which had to be published in mid-October. However, this is still a long way off.
Pressure on allied countries
Trump does not keep tensions with Huawei and other Chinese companies within the US. It has also repeatedly asked foreign leaders to ban Chinese equipment from 5G networks. The results of this call have been mixed.
Although a number of countries have responded to Trump’s warning, Norway, among others, has recently announced that it has no plans to ban Huawei equipment. In the Netherlands, Huawei is not excluded from the 5G network either.
However, there will be extra rules on additional security measures to be taken by telecom companies. This should prevent espionage. The security measures will not only apply to 5G networks, but also to existing telephone networks.
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